MIck Mannock, my Lad's petition...

[Contact]

Wish I'd have thought of it!
I was wondering if I could ask you all to sign the following petition to help Identify one of our most highly decorated fighter pilots, an Ace no less. Currently resting in a grave named only as "A British Airman Of the First World War". Please help make this petition viral by signing, sharing and generating as much interest as possible...

https://petition.parliament.uk/petit...oderation-info

[ONEALM]

Clicked on the link and received ....

We’re checking this petition

5 people have already supported Steven Nicholls’s petition.

We need to check it meets the petition standards before we publish it.

Please try again in a few days.

Will give it another shot when they've sorted out their bureaucratic tangle...

[Graeme]

Same thing happened here.

Graeme

[Barry Hickson]

Yeah me too!

[Contact]

Seems once you get five siggys the petition goes for verification, after that, it comes back online. This won't mean much to our American Cousins, as they'll never have heard of them, but the lad's twitterated Ross Kemp, Stephen Fry, Jeremy Clarkson and James May... he seems to think getting a celebrity in the fight is the way forward.

[Barry Hickson]

Please let us know when its up for additional Signatures.
I remember watching the Doco on the two chaps who tracked down Mannocks crash site & possible original burial site.

[MASTIFF]

I would recommend reading the book " Finding the Fallen " by Andy Saunders. In it he documents the efforts of a number of people, over many decades, to motivate an uninterested Air Historical Branch who seem to have the final word on the matter. Saunders himself has made submissions to them regarding Mannock and gotten nowhere.

Having said that, I shall be happy to sign the petition and wish you the best of luck in your endeavor.

Cheers,
Tony

[Volker_Nemsch]

.
... by providing us with the original text of the planned petition.

Dear Contact, while the petition is checked by others we could already read what you wrote and spread the news.

.

[Bernoullis]

I personally think that it is a crying shame that efforts to undertake a DNA check of the airman in the grave at Laventie have been unsuccessful. It seems daft that the powers that be seem so unmoved by the clear possibility of identifying one of the greatest airmen the UK has ever had. Not just because Mannock was an excellent fighter, but largely because of his willingness to coach the new arrivals on the units he operated with, and his willingness to continue with his duty in the face of crushing emotional and physical strain.

The longer we wait, the fewer folk there are alive that are descended from Mannock's family, and the harder it will become to source the DNA that will, one way or the other, help identify the airman in Plot III, Row F, Grave 12 at Laventie. Those who knew him revered him in many ways, and it would surely be fitting to identify Mannocks remains, if they are in fact his remains.

As a former RAF pilot myself, I am at a loss to explain why the official will to sort this seems to be so completely lacking. Yes, it would cost money to do, but once an offcial green light was given, money could be raised. I would gladly contribute to help, and even if the final outcome was "No, this is not Mannock" at least it would finalised. The Arras Flying Services Memorial would then truly have to be the final place for remembering Mannock, with his name carved near the top the column, along with the nearly 1000 other airmen similarly commemorated.

Norman Franks and Andy Saunders book 'Mannock: The Life and Death of Major Edward Mannock VC, DSO, MC, RAF' has good detail of the efforts to get offcialdom to seriously reconsider it's stock answer of "No!", but even with the assistance of an RAF Air Chief Marshall, it has all come to nought so far. I find that very sad and annoying, all at the same time.

[Contact]

The petition is up and active now...

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/191594